Molecular detection of Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia felis in fleas from Algeria

Abstract

With the exception of the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis and Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, fleas and human flea-borne infections have been scarcely studied in Algeria [1]. Murine typhus, a typhus group rickettsiosis caused by Rickettsia typhi and transmitted by X. cheopis, is also known to occur in Algeria, but cases are poorly documented [2,3]. However, recently, fleas collected in Algeria, in the district of Oran, between July and September 2003 (Ctenocephalides canis from rodents, and Archeopsylla erinacei from hedgehogs) were tested by PCR for the presence of Rickettsia spp., and were shown to harbour an emerging pathogen, Rickettsia felis [4]. In this work, in an effort to identify the possible aetiological agents and vectors for rickettsiosis affecting humans in Algeria, we analysed more fleas collected from rodents trapped in peridomestic areas for evidence of rickettsial infection.